Saturday, January 31, 2009

On Thursday Christine came to visit and we have been having lots of fun dyeing and planning to overtake the universe.Meanwhile I took some pictures at hook -in and you will be BLOWN away at what people are making !I was lucky to have people come because the weather, it was white !

Here is the work of Lorraine who is doing her house fantastic justice and the best part of it , the grass always stays cut and it never snows.

Barbie was just finishing up her girl talk rug , beautiful !

We had a rare treat of Marilyn visiting , what a joy !She is working on her nylon piece and got some nylons to dye.

And last but not least, Erin and her amazing tree trunk !!!!! all I can say is WOW.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

If you are working along with us on The Welcome MatSecret is our new word for visual journaling.Explore what this means to you visually. A dictionary or thesaurus can get you sparking, if you are feeling uninspired.

Lauri , It was nice to read you are starting a new project.I thought you might like to see my progress, I'm trying to hook at least 1 hour each day on it, with hand torn you can really whip along. I'm well pleased with the colours and will be adding some interesting houndstooth black and white trim to it I think and I will be running out of the background soon and I'm excited to see what will replace it !I do draw some shapes but notice I ignore the shapes afterward anyway !You might see I've started a new hooker today, if you get them when they are young, they are devoted for life! Seth loves wool.Have a great day!

Monday, January 26, 2009

I'm as pleased as punch I got a good start on the purse last night, several rocks hooked during BIG LOVE ! Well, it was with the kind assistance of Man who had to describe a few things to me because I cannot see to hook with my spectacles any more. I felt is more important to see to hook than to see every little thing on the TV. I'm well satisfied with the results so far.

I'm using wool I call , humbly , The World's Most Beautiful Wool, that is it's name brand !! LOLHere a version of it ( not the one I'm using) :

This is a list I wrote at least 10 years ago. It has been the basis for speeches, classes and grand permission to do as you wish.It allows me the freedom to create what I wish with drawings or plans or expectations like my journal rug !

Be an inspired hooker who challenges expectations and explores their creativity. Be self expressive, learn to listen and relate yourselves to your viewer through your rugs. Hooking with heart and meaning will create and inspire emotion and your ideas will spark others.

Let your rug speak, find out what it wants to become. If you get a niggle of an idea, that is your creative self giving direction. It is your intuition, follow it.

Make mistakes, lots of them , enjoy them. They are the ground work for growth. If you aren't making mistakes you aren't making anything.

Explore and luxuriate in colour, learn to understand the science and the dynamics of colour. This is all hooking is really about. Try something new. Take cues from your surroundings. Start to observe the colours in things not just light and dark.

Create something ------ anything, make a move in that direction , you will be amazed at your abilities and how they will grow as your self confidence does. What have you got to lose by trying?

You are a wonderful interesting, original being, have everything you do reflect the fascinating person you are. Your originality is a gift! Do something with it.

Take a lighthearted humorous approach to rug making, let your sense of the ridiculous surface from time to time.

Treat yourself like a hot house flower, give yourself plenty stimulation, food for thought and quench your soul with beautiful things to look at. Take a course that interests you, everything you do will enrich all facets of your life including hooking.Having space you can call your own even if it just a sketch pad it will be so beneficial to your artistic growth.

If you are not sure how to find out what and who you are as an artist start keeping a scrap book and paste in the things that excite you. Cut from magazines, wall paper samplers, fabric, flyers, basically anything that can be glued into your book. A pattern of your favorite colours,shapes and styles will start to emerge. This pattern is about you.

Give yourself permission to be all you can be. Remember to enjoy the process.

This is the story of one rug.Late one night as I prepared the various things I needed to have a dye class I noticed one of my sample rugs ( why a spotty swatch is better than a smooth one ) was smelling faintly musty. Now everyone tells me only I and possibly a dope sniffing customs dog could smell this but I could and I decided to do something about it before the whole dye class found out I was some sort of slattern.

It was late, past bedtime in fact and I was getting tired, I could not hang it outside because it was raining heavily ( a bit of dampness is always good for a rug on burlap but not that much dampness) so I decided to do something I've never done before.

You would think by now I am old enough to know better but, alas , I'm not !!

I thought putting the rug on fluff in the dryer - no heat might "air " it out.I have never used the fluff cycle.I know nothing about the fluff cycle.I don't know what it's for.What would need fluffing besides cats ?

I threw caution to the wind put the rug into the dryer set the fluff cycle for 25 minutes , went to bed.I slept like a baby.

I jumped out of bed upon wakening to call my friend to go for a walk before it was light, as I listened to it ring at her house I was vaguely aware of another sound,

clunkone more clunk,

something more backgroundy,

more like a motor running,

more like MY DRYER....... with my rug in it.

Still going - ALL NIGHT LONG.

Hipleasehold, I said and I dashed downstairs, visions of thousands of #4 strips rolled into one giant colourful ball, with the odd errant strand of whipping wool and burlap poking out.

To my joy it was all in one piece and to my astonishment , it looked better than it ever had. Yes it was a vivid and beautiful thing to behold.What's with that ?

A few days later I discovered the secret. I put a load of laundry into the dryer and cleaned out the lint filter it was about 1 inch thick with wool fluff of the type I clean up after people cut their wool or are just doing some serious hooking in the studio.

I guess this lint was "extra " wool bits from the background which was dark purple, as it migrated around through walking etc. it muddied up the bright colours.

Friday, January 23, 2009

If you've known me a while you'll know about this collection of hints I made in 1998.I'm trolling through old items on my computer and on the old server for the Welcome Mat.These seem to still hold water, I wouldn't change a thing.

SEVEN EFFECTIVE HOOKER HABITS

NEVER PUT YOUR HOOKING AWAY

THINK OF YOUR RUG AS A MASTERPIECE

KEEP AN IDEA BOOK

HOOK WHERE EVER IT’S POLITE TO DO SO (hint: not a funeral home)

NEVER TURN DOWN AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN MORE

KEEP YOUR EYE PEELED FOR WOOL AT ALL TIMES

KEEP COMPANY WITH OTHER HOOKERS

Speaking of the old being new I showed the ladies at hook-in the neat trick Jennifer Manuel had on her blog the other day about seeing if yarn was going to look effective as edging.... check it out ! The thought it was as good as loaves and fishes.Yes a punny nod to Jennifer's blog name.http://fisheyerugs.blogspot.com/2009/01/pencil-trick.html Enjoy your day.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Tomorrow Sandy is coming and she needs some reds.I made a surprise for her and took many bits from the dollar bin and overdyed them with a scoop of Aljo Scarlet and Pro Chem Bright Red.I hope she likes them. Before

After

Last night at the Woolies when we realized we spent the whole night hooking with our boots on . We are Canadians!! LOL

And finally Pam's start on her cool new rug, yes she is using up those itty bitties small pieces of uncut wool.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

This is a very bad combo.I have few area rugs on the floor but those that are there are working double over time to collect the detritus of my little universe.Man just called to say he is going to be taking the vacuum to be looked at and hopefully fixed.

I have a darling hooker who comes only once in a great while and she is allergic to the cats, wool ( she hooks with nylons ) and burlap. She meant to come last week but will most likely come this week. Dear God ! I'll kill her. Accidently of course , due to my fibrous house! She must really love me. I hope the repair man will give us a loaner, a hookers life depends on it !

I'm getting my finishing stuff ready ( piped binding) today so I can buckle down and get the edge on my moon rug this Friday.I only have the day time as late afternoon and evening will be spent making a variety of things with spelt to reduce our intake of high gi flours. I have felt remarkably well due to this change and have several friends who have also switched. Now we are learning to bake all over again, I find spelt acts the most like real flour as in proofing, and raising with powders and soda and mixing. We have bagels and granola on the list and who knows what else. I wish you could be here!

Speaking of being here, last night as I made a salad I listened to a great radio program podcast on my ipod.The show , NPR's This I Believe's ( Americans from all walks of life describe their core personal beliefs.) episode: Inviting The World to Dinner (click here so you can listen to this podcast ) It is only 5 mins. long.

I was struck with a strong desire to do the same and shouted out, I want that too ! It made a little teary to hear Jim Haynes express his desire to connect the world that comes to his door and through the common need to eat knit them together. Man pointed out I had already started this happening, set it in motion so to speak by moving and restarting The Welcome Mat.

Oh HIM , he probably is just thinking about the grocery bill and the dishes if everyone in the world came to dinner.Nevertheless this I believe, for once he is RIGHT !! LOL

BTW I love podcasts and I hope to become a monthly podcaster soon, it is part of my directive for 2009.Listening to podcasts I feel so much more stimulated than TV.What is it about TV that is so zombiefying ? if you like english please substitute stultifying.

For your edification the webster word of the day is : flocculate. to aggregate into small clusters.

Happy hooking and dyeing all I'm off to dye a method I call the world's most beautiful wool for my purse !PS Here is my drawing for the design, it is called A Heavy Load- it is a purse full of rocks. When asked if my purse is full of rocks I can comment..... why yes it is ! Practically flocculated !

Monday, January 19, 2009

Today I'm going to try to laugh at least 20 times, heartily.Do you want to join me ?Please do.Here is a joke to get you started.A man travels to Scotland and while there finds himself a bit lonely.He goes to a pub and finds a a group of men to have a wee dram with and after awhile his thoughts turn to companionship of a purchased type. So feeling both friendly and frisky he asks his new buddies how to find a hooker in Scotland."Why lad, are ye daft ?, Hookers are the ones with their sweaters off." note: Michele does not think this joke is funny. it might be a Canadian thing

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Today I was thinking about the poor economy and was trying to think of ways to hook less expensively.I don't want someone I know wanting to hook but unable to because of the cost.So I thought of other things we could hook with. I've hooked with everything from taffeta to candy wrappers and it all works with varying success ,here are some of the easier things to use.

I've been working on this repair for many days but only few minutes at a time.Here is the Before.

Here is what I did.Noticed the shoreline went up at an alarming rate on the left hand side. Fixed it.Noticed the wispy clouds in front of the moon were very dark considering the moon casts light.Noticed the moon was too yellow instead of white and cold as the reflection is.Thought the moon was a little too small made it bigger and oblong LOL !! .... then had to round it out at the sides. I think I'm ready to begin finishing.... if you see anything else strange let me know !

We had a quiet hook-in yesterday, only 4 came but they were the best 4 and we had good fellowship. Ruth Anne was working on her chicken rug, we think everybody has to make at least one.Sandy came with her sheep rug and a cool way to mount ornaments. I'll have t post that from the downstairs machine. Judy came with her and she was working on her flower basket rug. It's looking lovely.Erin dropped in and is working on something she drew from a photo in her own yard and I have to say she's only been hooking about 30 seconds but she's got the observant eye and her tree trunk, well, you'll have to stay in suspense, because there was no time to take a photo, she said next time. I hope I'm not hunting her down like paparazzi for you all !

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Just read how excited I was when I read this person's book back in 2004 ! When I read it over just now I excited myself all over again!!!!

I am reading Life Paint Passion, as I finished it up I read the co-authors are no longer associated.

Reason # 1 I am thankful for intuition: I ordered at the same time a book written by Michele Cassou , Point Zero , Creativity Without Limits, after she moved on from Life Paint Passion.I thought perhaps her book was written before the co authored one.NO ! She moved on and away from the ideas of the Life Paint Passion book and went deeper.

She noticed that people from her workshops and classes did not paint while away from class- away from her.

She realized she was acting as their conduit.This was impeding them from self realization, so they might create anytime any where.She realized they needed tools in the manner of questions to ask themselves to tap in and over come obstacles.How could she help them but not function as a priest to their God - creation?

This is a thing I straddle, I don't want to block development by becoming the ONE WHO KNOWS.We all know what is correct for us, we feel it physically.We are just used to not paying attention.

Now here is the real mind blower, so zen like it is ridiculous.We don't need to "know" anything, not techniques, not proper structure, not design, nor colour - NOTHING.We only need to ask ourselves what would we do if we were free to do so. And , of course, we all are free except for the prisons we build ourselves.Michelle Cassou says even things like different techniques will develop and new skills as we give ourselves over to just doing, we will naturally learn from our experience and move forward building on what we gather. To quote myself from a letter of a few days ago:

I want free expression and letting it all out , letting it hang tough, no objections to what comes out , no refinement , no stops.

This does not exclude making something extremely detailed and realistic. It does include following the direction of your hand and eye with out your mind telling you what to do.

It is Yes to shading, perspective, minutiae, grand sweeps, tiny dots anything that has gone before, for us anything that is traditionally rug hooking.

It is saying yes to your me and what me wants. It is, as Caryn stated, not forcing what should be done to achieve these things but letting it naturally develop. We all know a shadow , something behind, is dark and when we observe this ourselves and we try our own methods to achieve it then REAL learning has transpired. We KNOW. We won't forget. Instead of being vessels who have unknown info poured into our minds, we become seekers who run out to gather it into our baskets as we see we need it.

Michelle also tell her readers just by trying to use art to express we can impede our ability to relate to our intuition. This statement feels authentic to me.So much of art and what is art and artists is posturing, posing, pontificating.From the person who declares they are not an artist to the person who thinks they are God's gift to the world with their work. All the declarations of what art means and what paintings mean and stories that must be told verbally by rug makers when if our work was true intuition the story would be revealed that the looker needs to hear.

Here I am , little miss susie sunshine spreading my greens hither and yon !Maybe because I'm living in a white worldAs a matter of fact I think I'm having some inner calling for green because this morning on my morning chai I sprinkled the salad mix grinder instead of the chocolate/ cinnamon, sugar grinder. That now that made for an interesting mix.Soon I'll be shouting for Rampions, only Rampions will do !

I realized last night I had not posted a recipe for you in a very long time.How rude!I love looking at all my greens piled up but thought I was missing one so here it is just for you and not for RHM or the Mat.

dissolve in 1/4 cup boiling water, dump into dye bath , rinse out cup in dye bathadd 1/8th yd wool, stir if you really want to. wait 5 minutes add acid, wait until water clears, rinse wool well, dry in your preferred method, hook something fantasticPlease add brown if you find this green too much ..... 1/64th tsp Prochem 503 or more if you like a dead type spring. will look about like the month of March here. January in Virginia, Feb. in CT.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

It feels good to get my greens all ready and of course look who is laying on them... oh boy ! I love green so much and it was fun to combine strange things like turquoise and orange or yellow and black to create them.I relish ( PUN ALERT ) seeing them all together.

The steam was most welcome also.It's a cold one here tonight, I think i'll haul out the electric blanket.I've posted a green I made specially for The Welcome Mat

http://www.thewelcomemat.ning.comLook under blog posts for it. I also picked up the wrong dye tonight and made an interesting grey , it was equal parts blue and seal brown, how surprising ! I meant to pick up bottle green, a blue green instead of blue. I love these amazing dyeing surprises.

Maybe I'll get the laundry folded tomorrow ! I'll put on some good podcast like This American Life, and get it over with !

Yes , you can breathe a sigh of relief. I know I am. And talk about casting your pearls before swine,here is what The Bird thought about it.

She would rather park it on a rug !

On Sunday I met in spirit with a purse study group, they are about 5 hours away and with winter it is great to be a part of good initiatives without even leaving home. It was started by my great friend Christine. She saw a wonderful purse with potential at the Hooked in the Mountains show this past November. Dianne Phillips, who made the purse, promptly showed Christine how to draw it. Christine, struck by her generosity decided to pay it forward with all credit to Dianne and start a study group consisting of three meetings to explore this wonderful pattern with other hookers. Her friend Glenn is providing the space in her studio. love when these things happen ! So I'm pondering over what my pattern will be.Should I make something sweet? Or show the contents of a purse belonging to a gangster 's moll or a soccer mom, a movie star ?Make it sporran like... look like a paper bag, a grocery bag, an old bag !I love thinking about this stuff! But because I'm busy I will resort to my usual eyes and stripes or landscapes ( how about a can of beans or better yet a can of worms purse ? or bi-section of a cooking pot with boiling pasta !) or an partial under the earth and on top of it scene. What about a flap with a secret message underneath..... I wonder what will happen ! It might be fun to honor Dianne and make a Diana the Goddess purse !

I've had an overwhelming response to my new home for the welcome mat. People are liking it. This is good and I feel completely exhilarated and rejuvenated.

But as of now I've spent 4 hours on the computer, it's time to do something else.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

I had many things I wanted to do today on the making end.But alas, I spent the day welcoming all my brand new members to The New Welcome Mat.I was thrilled to do it but even though I only type one handed, I need two hands to hook or sew !!!

I'll try to do what I want tomorow. ( Famous last word's) BTW I did not feed anyone any stones today ! LOL

We have been having very bright nights because of moon light these days.I know I promised to post the corrections on my Moon rug but I'm too tired to get the picture taken!

Friday, January 9, 2009

You can clearly see by this post 1 I'm procrastinating2 My life is a small pitiful one3 I need to get out more

The last two days Celie has been sleeping regularly on her pillow, I think it is safe to get some quilt bat and make some more.

Thank you for your indulgence.I'll reward you with some thoughts garnered from Sark interpreted into Rug hookeseFor more of SARK go to http://www.planetsark.com/

Reading in the Sark book about micro movements.This is the art of getting going if you are full out stopped.She recommends deciding what you wish to do while laying in bed of course, then making tiny steps towards that big or small goal.

Let's say we always wanted to hook a rug of a guitar.

Our first micro movement might be to find number to order backing. Next we might or might not dial it BUT the reward is you have done something towards your goal!

Next we might do a google image search for guitar photos and paintings.Then we might save them in a file title MY GREAT RUG OF '09

Next we might look at our materials.

You get the idea, you take tiny steps as fast or as slow as you want. I know doing one thing a day towards a dream will indeed make it happen. I like to think about what can be done , not what shouldn't, wouldn't or won't be done.

She also said people who are not completers are procratinators or perfectionists. Micro movements really help these people.Because as you focus on your set task toward your goal your inner critic or time stealer does not have time to butt in.

It is about 20 minutes to 8PM and I've still not done a lick about finishing anything. Oh the best laid plans and all that.It is taking up some far chunk of time right now to get the New and Shiny FREE Welcome Mat startedhttp://thewelcomemat.ning.com if you wan to check it out.

I also vowed to make the man a real dinner tonight and not those sandwiches he had diplomatically been asking for the last two nights.He is dedicated to the care of me, threw me right out yesterday on the ski trail and It was truly the best medicine, I pulled right out of a funk. You know the kind this time of year, the not getting out but you really should but you don't want to funk ?

The deal is I'm to be dedicated to his FEEDING. So tonight I hand made falefels, made naan, a terrific spinach and blood orange salad with dried cherries and pistachios, You'd really think I did him proud , I sure did.... until he spit out a chunk of gravel the size of a stack of 10 dimes. I'm such a good cook, come on over , I've got the stone soup simmering .....We still don't know where it came from.

On a darker note ( pun alert ) I found I had to over dye #1 sweaters , because they were a little too mottlely and light for her Old Order Martha Stewart self. They are lovely and I can't wait ti see if she likes the.

When dyeing any knit wool garment you really want to use a bit of caution. Keep agitation a minimum. Let the sweater cool naturally you can felt them up really easily unlike the wool fabric we usually use the sweater's fibers are more open and will very be receptive to joining together into felt.

Here is the pile of the great hooked but unfinished, I better get cracking. Have a great week-end, Happy Hooking

I did not hook today though the atmosphere was right, all stormy , snowy and cold.I was busy, but I did hook on this last night at the Wiarton Woolies meeting( I forgot my camera to take a picture of Pam's rug, sorry.)My fellow hookers were floored, I was hooking on burlap and a printed pattern.The burlap wasn't too fun to hook on but I'll soon be done.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Today I built a new free Welcome Mat To join go to http://thewelcomemat.ning.com/

Also cat pillow prototype - angora, lambswool and quilt batting , they don't seem interested so I sprinkled it with catnip though I think wearing it for 24 hours might have done the trick a bit better. Here is Celie studiously ignoring the deluxe possibilities next door !

Dyed 3 sweaters for #1 , all were once cream or oatmeal.

Still to come , supper , the Woollies, my current read.... not to mention HBOs True Blood based on the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries by Charlaine Harris, where will the fun and frivolity end I ask you, where?

This winter I decided The Welcome Mat subscription format had become too cumbersome for me to keep up with.It's a long story ! LOL

I decided to close it down, it was a great tool and I was sad to see my wonderful connections with people go away, as were others. So I rolled out a new Mat where you can have some personalization and post photos and videos if you wish.I thank Heidi who sent a timely email invite that showed me a new way to go.I believe I must invite you so if you wish to join drop me a line from my web page and send you the invite, please spread the news around as much as you can. It's FREE , FREE - thank God almighty It and I are free at last ! Everyone who creates with fibers is welcome.

Sunday classes have started and they are a terrific way to get revved up again about hooking, the classes are limited in size and you get tons of individual attention

Here is a picture of a novel way Laurel found to hook. Bear in mind she is 16 and FLEXIBLE ! She put her legs through the chair back and seat and leaned her hoop on the chair back ! I like that kind of inventive thinking.

Thea and Larel show off their hooking ! Laurel( Honorary #3) just learned Sunday and she is finishing off a rug her mom started. Thea ( # 1 ) is revisiting hooking and is really enjoying it.

Pam was here too and she is going to make a derivative of this rug with her bits and pieces, the dark teal I dyed in December was for her. By the time I thought to take pictures it was time to go, we had some freezing rain. I'll see Pam tonight at the Wiarton Woollies meeting and I'll take a picture then.

Going to DO something now.... it my good thing.I might be back to make a thing a day if I can't get the motor started. Pray for more snow so I might go skiing, it really is a necessity for me this time of year. I often try to learn something new at thins time of year and I think it will be machine embroidery. What do you do to make the dark months move swiftly ?

Oh yes indeedy the post holiday flat line has emerged.On the good side, it is periodically sunny today.I talked to lots of people of varying things so I have made some contact with the outside world.I'm soaking sweaters to dye and will repurpose cashmere ones to upcycle into cat beds. These are colour co-ordinated with the cats so the extra fur won't show.

My make a thing a day a month was a great relief to finish but as time wears( drags ) on from the 31 I have come to my Studio less and less.Two things to note about the studio right now! It is CLEAN and bright.And still I don't try make a point to come down.hmmm, I do know it was very messed up when I was doing a thing a day. And when I wasn't having Thursday hook-in I devolved it into a complete spatial and palatial chaos.It seemed to work somehow for me !I couldn't wait to get down and dirty in here.But I did have creating company and I think that might be the ticket! AND DAILY DEADLINESI need creating buddies to feel really happy, no matter what we are each making I like the company !

Don't forget about finishing Fridays... have you gone through your works in progress ?Know which one you want to tackle first ?

Don't be stopping up your other ideas either to get these things finished , keep your flow going. Keep up with the new incoming but save Fridays out for visiting the old. This way all parts of the creative spirit are answered.

Here is the studio clean and bright , look for Celie's posterior, she is my faithful studio companion these days. She just doesn't say much.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Well, I was off to a slow start today,but once I got going it was good!That was about 2 in the afternoon. I got dressed and went out to get the mail and I had three pkgs.One contained the charms from a charm swap I joined. When I arrange them I'll post the picture.I'm not sure whether to make a bracelet , a garland, fancy fringe on the end of a scarf ???? I also got a terrific set of presents from Christine ! Wonderful ! Thanks again.

The other parcel contained a great book ! Machine Embroidery Inspirations from Australian Artists. Kristen DibbsIt is very cool to see the diversity and it is full of tips good for all fiber artists.

Speaking of being artists I had several requests in the last few days for various things, how did I do this or that ..... can I tell them how to do things.This batch of requests which I can kinda answer really made me think about something I like to call the magic bullet. Frequently we look to someone else to give us the answers. Rug hooking is certainly set up like this. But the answers we get are for their questions, not our own.We are really the only ones who 'know" what our answers are. We are looking for the magic bullet to be shot straight for us. But aren't we the owners of our own magic, unique to us ? If we knew our questions better it would help to find the answers.

For instance I'm frequently asked to tell people how to hook a face.This is not a topic I'm an expert in. I have only hooked about 5 faces in my life and those were of people whom I'm really familiar with. Yes, in case you were wondering Elvis is living right here with me !It is easy to tell people what I do.It is easy to explain what to look for.It is easy to jot down tips for colour use and all the rest of what you might use to create a great portrait.

But what I can't do is look for you, or study your visual as you need to, or hook for you. Or rip out your work as you refine your method.Because it is your method. Only you can discover it. Mostly by making a start and tons of mistakes. Go for it !

One of best encouragements for me as I started my hooking life was a documentary on Picasso and the creation of his painting Guernica.He was working on it only 15 days after the attack on the town by German bombers during the Spanish Civil War.He had his initial ideas. But watching him execute them and cast aside those that didn't fit his work as it progressed was such a relief.Because don't we all in our minds eye set out to make the most glorious thing ever ? Then we start to bring them to fruition, and the tree sometimes bears fruit that we don't expect. The work sometimes demands a new turn. It becomes entity itself. It might only resemble our initial idea. This is still good. This is for the best. This is what creativity is about.

Now take a gander at this: I'm living in a white world .... it is GOOD to see green !